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Oh, how I forgot what it’s like to be in the place that you adore. To be with the person that you want to spend every second of every day with. To eat the foods that you crave (I’m looking at you, les crêpes!) To smell the yeasty-deliciousness as you walk by les boulangeries, with low prices on crisp baguettes (None of that floppy bread nonsense that I find in the grocery stores here, beurk!). Admiring the fact that holding the door open for a person behind you isn’t only a nice gesture that happens from time to time, but a daily occurrence. To find a new pastry that you hadn’t yet tried one day and snacking on an old favorite treat the next.

I could spend hours walking along La Seine or strolling through the maze of little streets, dodging through tourists only to arrive in a secluded area only a couple minutes later. The sight of the buildings towering over you, but only to a certain height, covered history and finesse. You can’t help but feel small and insignificant in such a beautiful way; you are just another speck of history.

We spent Christmas with Max’s roommate and his family, where we ate course after course until I was positive that I couldn’t dream of eating anything more… Oh wait, there’s a plate of FIVE different cheeses coming out? Yeah, I guess I still have room in this stomach of mine.

After spending two weeks, day and night, with this guy, I can’t wait to be back for good after graduation. As if my passion for France itself wasn’t enough to spark my desire (need?) to return, he is an extra bit of motivation.

So with this beautiful two week reminder of how in love with life I am when I’m in France, I’m even more determined than I’ve ever been before to figure out exactly how I will be able to move there permanently. Six months left of university, and after that, I hope to be off. I know this journey I am embarking on will not be easy, but it will be worth it. I will make it happen, and I am ready for work for it.

Yes, indeed. It does mean all pumpkin everything. So while we’re at it, why don’t we throw chocolate into these little muffins and call it a day? When the chocolate chips stay a nice, melty consistency even the next morning, I can’t help but think these are the greatest healthy muffins of all time.

…Because pumpkin. (Yes, I am so on that bandwagon. Can you really blame me?)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all those ingredients together, and divide batter into muffin a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 20 minutes. Knife should come out rather clean, but the muffins are very (please excuse my word choice!) moist, so it won’t come out completely clean. My batter made ten muffins. If that is the case with yours, be sure to fill the empty spots halfway with water so the muffin bake evenly.

Lightly sweetened with great pumpkin flavor, these muffins are a great for anytime of the day. (I really only say that so I can justify eating them all day long…)

*Recipe user discretion advised: When I get in that crazy baking mode, there’s not much actual measuring that goes on in my kitchen.

These vegan veggie burgers are seriously awesome. I pretty much used this recipe by The Healthy Maven with a few changes. I’ll post my changes just for the heck of it because the flavors worked SO well!

Try these. You won’t be disappointed.

The Best Vegan Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:

1 Small Sweet Potato, cooked, without skin (I popped mine into the microwave for five minutes after poking holes with a fork)

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil (Or any oil you want to use for sauteing)

2 Stalks of Celery

1/3 Yellow Bell Pepper, diced

1/4 Red Onion, diced

About 5 Mushrooms, diced

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

Handful of Fresh Cilantro, diced

1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Oats

1 Tbsp Mustard (I used one with a good spicy zing to it.)

Salt

Pepper

Dash of Curry Powder

Dash of Oregano

Dash of Cayenne

Saute mushrooms, onions, bell pepper, celery, and garlic in coconut oil until the onions become slightly translucent. Add in cilantro and spices. Saute for about five more minutes, so the flavors can disperse and develop. Take off heat.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Let mixture cool for about five minutes. Add sweet potato and mixture to a blender or food processor. (Vitamix to the rescue!) Add in mustard. Pulse until it all begins to combined, but leave it slightly chunky. Add in oats and blend until a little more incorporated. Form patties by hand. (Mine made three good sized patties.) Place each patty on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip and bake the other side for 10 more minutes. Turn oven to broil and flip patties again. Broil for about one minute. Flip patties again and broil the other side for about one minute.

This last broil creates a nice crisp on the outside while the insides remain creamy and heavenly.

No need to waste the leaves from radishes. They’ve got a strong, peppery taste that packs in flavor with such small amounts.

So here we go! Another non-recipe for radish green chips.

Kind of like kale chips, but just another green.

What I did:

Use the greens when they’re as fresh as possible. It’s easiest for them to dry out if they haven’t sucked in too much moisture, but it’s never to late! Don’t waste them. Thoroughly wash and dry the greens.

Toss with not too much olive oil, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Not too much is necessary since the greens have such great flavor within themselves, but this is all done to taste. So go for whatever you’d like!

Spread out on a pan, trying your best to not overlap. The more space the greens have, the better.

Bake at 350 degrees until nice and crispy. Mine took about fifteen minutes.

Best eaten that day so they stay as crispy as possible. But freaking good, regardless.

No real recipe here! Just a recommendation of a salad that you really shouldn’t consider passing up.
In the mix goes… Chopped romaine and chopped spinach in equal proportions, fresh basil chiffonade (I bought another basil plant, and I’m in heaven!), radishes, blueberries, cucumber, garbanzo beans, avocado, and goat cheese.
For the dressing, I squeezed half a lime, sea salt, a generous amount of fresh ground pepper, and a drizzle of honey over the entire bowl, then mixed it all up.
Perfect!

…Enjoyed while wearing your bathing suit and drinking an ice old shandy optional, but highly recommended.

Mom came to Paris, lock in hand that my dad engraved with my family members’ names, and stated that we had to put it on the love lock bridge. Maybe that’s adds just another reason why I feel like I’ve left a piece of me in France.